Crap ? I think the Chanute (-Herring) gliders belonged to the state-of-the-art gliders of 1890-1900. Octave Chanute and his companions were wise enough not to start testing the machines from high cliffs and that sort of things. They started with low hops as most pioneers would have done.
The Chanute Triplane might be a good build too and it could fly
Cheers
Kees